CN101166314A - Signal enhancement by inserting business cards in "push-to-talk" type communication sessions - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to signal enhancement by inserting a business card in a "push to talk" type communication session. The SIP type signaling protocol used in the mobile communication network (N) consists of: Invite signaling message (MI) "INVITE", used to set up a calling communication client (A) and one or more called communication clients (B, C) ), and contains the logical address of the calling communication client and the address of the called communication client. The innovation of the signaling protocol is that the invitation signaling message (MI) also contains a business card associated with the user of the calling communication client (A).

Description

Signal enhancement by inserting business cards in "push-to-talk" type communication sessions

technical field

The present invention relates to communication networks. More specifically, it relates to an invitation by a communication client by one or more other communication clients to establish a communication session, in particular a "PoC" ("Push-to-talk over Cellular") type session.

Background technique

A "push-to-talk" (PTT) service is a "half-duplex" type of communication service that enables multiple parties to communicate with each other interactively and asynchronously. Controls (buttons, keys, etc.) for each client are used to switch the client from receive mode to transmit mode, or from transmit mode to receive mode.

This service has been adapted for use in cellular communication networks and is therefore abbreviated "PoC" ("Push-to-talk over Cellular").

OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) is currently promoting such a service. For example, in the "Push to talkover cellular (PoC)-Architecture" (OMA-AD_PoC-V1_0-20060609-A) and "OMA PoC Control Plane" (OMA-TS-Poc-ControlPlane-V1_0-20060609-A) documents It is described and specified. Both documents were published on June 9, 2006.

According to these standard specifications, a client wanting to initiate a "PoC" type communication session sends an INVITE message to a PoC communication server.

Such an INVITE message is a SIP "INVITE" request. This request type is basically specified in RFC3261 (Internet Engineering Task Force) entitled "Session Initiation Protocol".

The INVITE message contains the logical address of the client sending the invitation and the destination client (ie the client the sender wants to invite to the "PoC" communication session), which is called URI ("Uniform Resource Identifier").

One of the tasks of the PoC communication server is to send the invitation received from the sending (or calling) client to the invited (or called) client by using the address contained in the invitation message.

The invited clients are typically mobile communication terminals, especially cellular terminals. It has display means, usually comprising a screen, on which information about the invitation can be displayed. Depending on this information, the communication client user can decide whether to accept the invitation.

The OMA specification does not describe in detail the information conveyed by the invitation. A set of headers specified by the SIP protocol. These headers send the logical address (URI) of the calling client. Therefore, the invited communication client can display this logical address on its screen. If the user corresponding to this logical address is known to the called user, he may form part of the directory and the information contained in the directory may be displayed in addition to, or instead of, the logical address.

One possibility is described, for example, in patent application US2005/0287997. Apart from the standardization work carried out by OMA, this information describes a scheme in which information about the calling party ID is inserted into the signaling message and associated with the address book of the called communication client, whereby additional information is displayed to the user.

However, this prior art is not entirely satisfactory.

In the first case, the logical address may not be sufficient for the user to make the informed decision as to whether to accept the invitation to the communication session. The logical address is not necessarily very easily readable (it does not necessarily correspond to the user name of the calling client).

For the second case, where the logical address is associated with information stored locally by the client, it cannot be used except in the case where the invitation message is from a previously known correspondent. It cannot be applied in the case of a new communicating party, in which case no information is provided to assist the called user in making a judgment.

Various schemes have been developed to enable sending additional information in PoC applications. For example, this may include the solutions described in patent applications US2006/0046755, US2006/0121927 and US2006/0040686, which describe means for sending images during a "PoC" session.

However, these developments fail to send additional information that the called client can use to determine whether to accept the invitation to the communication session.

In patent US2006/0040686, for example, establishing a communication session remains in accordance with the prior art, and the called client cannot receive images from the server until he accepts the call and the session has been established.

Therefore, he cannot use the image to judge whether to accept an incoming call.

Therefore, there is a need to improve the prior art so that a called client can have the necessary information to decide whether to accept an invitation to a "PoC" ("Push to Talk") type communication session.

Contents of the invention

A first object of the invention is a communication client having

- a sound generation circuit for generating a sound signal representing data received on a downlink communication channel and a sound acquisition circuit for generating data to be sent on an uplink communication channel,

- Signal interface, capable of sending signal messages on a signal channel. some of the signaling messages are used to establish a communication session with one or more other communication clients;

- a man-machine interface comprising means for controlling said signal interface, means for transitioning between a sending mode and a receiving mode when a "push-to-talk" type communication session has been established, in said sending mode the microphone is active, in said receive mode, the microphone is inactive;

- Display means designed to display information based on data contained in some of the received signal messages.

The innovations of the communication client according to the invention are:

- said communication client is also equipped with a memory designed to store a business card associated with a user of said communication client and designed to send said business card to said other by one or more signaling messages communication client, and in

- said display means are designed to fully or partially display a business card contained in said received signaling message.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the signal interface may conform to the SIP protocol and may be designed to send the business card in an "INVITE" signal message designed to establish communication with one or more other The communication session of the client.

The business card may be inserted into the SDP portion of the "INVITE" signal message.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the business card may conform to the "vCard" format.

Optionally, the memory provided to store business cards may also be used to store a set of business cards each associated with a user or user profile, the communication client having said business card in the signaling message A means of previously identifying a business card in the set.

A second object of the present invention is a signaling protocol for a mobile communication network, comprising an INVITE SIGNAL message, for establishing a "push to talk" between a calling communication client and one or more called communication clients type communication session, and the signaling message contains the logical address of the calling communication client and the address of the called communication client.

According to the invention, the signaling protocol is innovative in that the invitation signaling message contains a business card associated with the user of the calling communication client.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, said calling communication client sends said invitation signal message to a communication server, said communication server being designed to be, depending on said address contained in said invitation signal message, The INVITE signal message is sent to the called communication client.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the signaling message may be a multi-party "INVITE" message conforming to the SIP standard, and wherein the business card is contained in a part conforming to the SDP protocol.

Alternatively, the business card may conform to a "vCard" format.

Another object of the invention is a software product comprising codes designed to implement the communication protocol according to the invention. Such code may possibly be downloaded from the application server to the communication client.

The invention and its features will become clearer after reading the description of the embodiments given below.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 schematically shows the communication network of the present invention;

Fig. 2 schematically shows a signaling message according to the invention.

Detailed ways

In the example of FIG. 1, a communication client A may communicate with a mobile communication network N. As shown in FIG. Said mobile communication network is typically a cellular network of the GSM, UMTS, CDMA type or the like. It can be a converged network, including mobile subnets and fixed subnets, enabling fixed and mobile clients to communicate together. Such a network may conform to the IMS (Internet Multimedia Subsystem) architecture standardized by 3GPP and TISPAN.

Communication client A can communicate with one or more other communication clients B, C via this communication network N.

By means known to the communication terminal, the communication terminal can connect to the communication network through the following channels: an uplink channel for sending data (voice, video, etc.) from the communication client user to the communication network N; receiving data (typically indirectly from another communication client); and a signaling channel for two-way signaling messaging between the communication client and the network N.

A communication client is typically a communication terminal equipped with sound generation and acquisition circuits for establishing a "speech" type communication session. They are also equipped with more advanced devices, such as screens, cameras, etc., for establishing multimedia communication sessions (video, etc.).

The sound generating circuitry, typically a loudspeaker or earphone, is used to generate sound signals representative of data received on the downstream communication channel.

The sound acquisition circuit, typically a microphone, is designed to generate data which is then sent to the communication network via an upstream communication channel.

The communication clients A, B, C also have signaling interfaces for sending and receiving signaling messages on a signaling channel that connects the communication clients A, B, C to the communication network N.

These signal interfaces may conform to the SIP protocol defined in RFC3261 of the IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force), and may have extensions to the SIP protocol, which is later defined by the IETF or other standardization organizations.

The communication client A sends an invitation signal message MI to the communication network N, thereby establishing a "PoC" type communication session ("Push to Talk over Cellular").

The communication channel A has a man-machine interface comprising means to command said signal interface and trigger the transmission of said invitation signal message MI. The human-machine interface typically includes a set of keys, possibly in addition to a touch screen, thumbwheel, etc., with which the user can command and control the communications client. Thus, a user can use the man-machine interface to trigger an invitation to a "PoC" type communication session.

This particular human-machine interface also has means (keys, thumbwheel, etc.) to switch between receive and transmit modes once a "push-to-talk" communication session has been established. The sound acquisition circuit is inactive in receive mode. The sound generating circuitry is normally inactive in transmit mode.

The invitation signal message MI may be sent to a communication server SC in the communication network. The communication server can understand the content of the invitation signal message MI, depending on which content the communication server can send the invitation signal message MI to the called communication clients B and C.

Fig. 2 schematically shows an INVITE signal message conforming to the SIP protocol and OMA standard specification for "PoC" service.

Then, the invite signal message MI is an "INVITE" message defined by IETFRFC3261.

It includes the first part of ESIP formed by a set of SIP headers. These headers contain at least the logical address of the user of communication client A. They also contain information for routing the invitation message to the communication server SC.

The "INVITE" signal message also contains a part P1 containing information describing the establishment of the communication session, which is used by the different parties to negotiate these parameters. These parameters may eg relate to the encoding of the media stream to be used or the like.

In known manner, this part complies with the SDP ("Session Description Protocol") protocol.

The signaling message MI also contains a part P2, which also conforms to said SDP protocol, as specified in the above-mentioned standard document published by OMA. Part P2 contains the logical address of the invited communication client.

The code given below is an exemplary embodiment of the INVITE signal message conforming to the SIP protocol and the OMA specification. The first excerpt represents the ESIP header of the INVITE message. Bold words indicate keywords in the SIP protocol syntax, and have only been shown in bold for easy recognition.

Note that the "Content-Type: multipart/mixed" header indicating that the invite message MI is a "multi-party" message including several parts (P1 and P2, and P3 to be described later) conforming to the SDP protocol.

SIP INVITE request

Request-URI sip:PoCConferenceFactoryURI.networkA.net

P-Preferred-Identity: "PoC User A" <sip:PoC-UserA@networkA.net>

Accept-Contact:*;+g.poc.talkburst;require;explicit

User-Agent: PoC-Client/OMA 1.0 Acme-Talk5000/v1.01

Privacy:id

Contact:<sip:PoC Client AnetworkA.net>;+g.poc.talkburst

Supported: timer

Session-Expires: 1800; refresher=uac

Allow: INVITE, ACK, CANCEL, BYE, REFER, MESSAGE, SUBSCRIBE, NOTIFY, PUBLISH

Content-Type: multipart/mixed

P-Alerting-mode: MAO

Part P1 conforming to the SDP protocol can be shown in the following form:

Content-Type: application/sdp

c＝IN IP6 5555::aaa:bbb:ccc:ddd

m=audio 3456 RTP/AVP 97

a=rtpmap:97 AMR

a=rtcp:5560

m=application 2000 udp TBCP

a=fmtp:TBCP queuing=1; tb_priority=2; timestamp=1

Part P2 conforming to the SDP protocol can be shown in the following form:

Content-Type: application/resource-lists+xml

Content-Disposition: recipient-list

<? xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8">

<resource-lists xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:resource-lists"

xmlns;xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLScheme-instance">

<list>

<entry uri="sip:PoC-UserB@networkB.com"/>

<entry uri="sip:PoC-UserC@networkC.com"/>

</list>

</resource-lists>

As mentioned above, this part P2 contains the addresses of the called communication clients B, C ("sip:PoC-UserB@networkB.com" and "sip:PoC-UserC@networkC.com").

The communication server SC is designed to send an invitation signal message MI to the communication client B according to the addresses contained in the message ("sip:PoC-UserB@networkB.com" and "sip:PoC-UserC@networkC.com") and C. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG. 1, the message MI is copied as a message MIB and a message MIC, the message MIB is sent to the communication client B, and the message MIC is sent to the communication client C.

Further, according to the invention, part P3 is also inserted into an invitation signal message MI sent by the calling communication client A.

The part P3 contains the user's business card. It can be stored in the communication client before being stored in a memory specially provided for this purpose. The communication client can then be designed to automatically insert this business card stored in the invitation signal message sent. User confirmation may be requested, or a configuration option of the communication client may be used for the automatic insertion.

If several different users can use a particular communication client, the communication client may store several business cards. In this case, when the user makes a connection ("login") to the communication client, the business card to be sent can be automatically determined.

Possibly, some different business cards, such as business cards, personal cards, etc., may be provided and stored for specific users corresponding to different profiles.

In all cases, the communication client is equipped with means for ascertaining a business card in a set of stored business cards before sending in the signaling message MI.

This business card can conform to the vCard format. The vCard format has the advantage that it is widely used in email, thus facilitating interoperability between invitation messages and email, and between applications and services using the applications.

The vCard ("Versitcard") format is standardized in version 3.0 of the IETF's RFCs 2425 and 2426, known as "MIME Content Type for Directory Information" and "vCard MIME Directory Profile," respectively.

Clearly, other business card specifications are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The business card may contain different entries of information about the use of the communication client: his pseudonym or surname, his e-mail, his physical address, phone number, his title and/or occupation, etc.

According to the SIP protocol, this part P3 contains the business card which can be described as follows:

Content Type: application/x-vcard

begin:vcard

fn:Smith

n::Smith; Bob

org: Alcatel;

adr:;;Route de Nozay;Marcoussis;;F-91461 Cedex;France

email; internet: Bob.Smith@alcatel.fr

tel; work:+33(0)1 69 63 xx xx

tel:fax:+33(0)1 69 63 xx xx

version:2.1

end:vcard

This part P3 contained in the signal message MI is retained in the signal messages MIB and MIC which are sent by the communication server SC to the communication clients B and C respectively.

Communication servers B and C are equipped with display means, specifically screens. Thus, the information contained in the business card can be partially or completely displayed on the screen. Therefore, they provide the user of the called communication client with additional information to decide whether to accept the invitation.

Some information may be displayed automatically (caller name, etc.), while the user will take specific action to display only other information (address, etc.). This division may depend on the size of the display screen.

Even if the user of communication client B or C does not know the user of communication client A, he can thus be notified of his name, company, address, etc., and this information is sufficient for him to judge. Thus, he can filter certain incoming calls and possibly ignore undesired "junk" type invites.

He can also prepare himself mentally and physically (by taking out files, documents, etc.) for the incoming call.

Such business cards received by the communication client may optionally be stored in a memory provided for this purpose and managed by an "address book" type application. The store and the application enable users to manage contacts and keep track of those contacts.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the business card may also be sent by a signal message other than the invitation signal message.

For example, a signaling message may be sent by the called communication client B to the calling communication client A and/or another called communication client C. These signaling messages containing the business card of the user of communication client B enable communication clients A and C to know personal information and possibly store this business card in their contact details.

Claims (16)

1. A communication client (A) equipped with: - a sound generation circuit for generating a sound signal representing data received on the downlink communication channel and a sound acquisition circuit for generating data to be sent on the uplink communication channel, and - a signaling interface capable of sending signaling messages (MI) on a signaling channel; some of said signaling messages are invitation messages for establishing a communication session with one or more communication clients (B, C); - a man-machine interface, comprising means for controlling said signal interface, means for transitioning between a sending mode and a receiving mode when a "push to talk" type communication session has been established, in said sending mode, said a microphone is active, and in said receive mode, said microphone is inactive; - display means designed to display information based on the data contained in some of the received signal messages; The communication client is characterized in that it is also equipped with a memory designed to store a business card associated with a user of the communication client and designed to send the business card by one or more invitation messages to all The other communication client described above, and characterized in that said display means are designed to fully or partially display a business card contained in said received signaling message. 2. The communication client as claimed in claim 1, wherein said signaling interface conforms to the SIP protocol and is designed to send said business card in an "INVITE" signal message designed to establish The communication session with one or more other communication clients. 3. Communication client according to the preceding claim, wherein said business card is inserted into the SDP part of said "INVITE" signal message. 4. Communication client according to the preceding claim, wherein said business card conforms to the "vCard" format. 5. A communication client as claimed in the preceding claim, wherein said memory provided for storing business cards is also operable to store a set of business cards each associated with a user and a user profile, so Said communication client also has means for determining a business card of said group before sending said business card in a signaling message (MI). 6. A signal protocol for a mobile communication network (N), including an invitation signal message (MI), for establishing a communication between a calling communication client (A) and one or more called communication clients (B, C) "Push to talk" type communication session, and the signal message contains the logical address of the calling communication client and the address of the called communication client, characterized in that the invitation signal message (MI) Also included is a business card associated with the user of said calling communication client (A). 7. The signaling protocol according to the previous claim, wherein said invitation signaling message (MI) is sent by said calling communication client (A) to a communication server (SC), said communication server (SC) It is designed to send said invite signal message (MI) to said called communication client (B, C) depending on said address. 8. The signaling protocol of claim 6, wherein the signaling message is a multi-party "INVITE" message conforming to the SIP standard, and wherein the business card is contained in a part conforming to the SDP protocol. 9. The signaling protocol of claim 6, wherein the business card conforms to the vCard format. 10. A software product comprising code designed to use the communication protocol as claimed in one of claims 6 to 9. 11. A signal protocol for a mobile communication network (N), including an invitation signal message (MI), for establishing a communication between a calling communication client (A) and one or more called communication clients (B, C) communication session, and includes the logical address of the calling communication client computer and the address of the called communication client computer, it is characterized in that, the invitation signal message (MI) also includes the communication with the calling communication client computer ( A) The business card associated with the user. 12. Signaling protocol according to the preceding claim, wherein said business card conforms to the vCard format. 13. Signaling protocol according to the preceding claim, wherein said INVITE signaling message is an "INVITE" message conforming to said SIP standard. 14. The signaling protocol according to the preceding claim, wherein in said invitation signaling message said business card is included in a part conforming to the SDP protocol. 15. A communication network using a communication client according to one of claims 1 to 15. 16. A communication client equipped with: means for connecting to a communication network and sending an invitation signal message for establishing a communication session with at least one other communication client; and display means designed based on data contained in some of the received signal messages to display information, It is characterized in that the communication client is also equipped with a memory designed to store a business card associated with the user of the communication client and designed to be sent by one or more invitation messages to Said other communication client, and characterized in that said display means are designed to fully or partially display a business card contained in said received signaling message.